Google Executive Breaks Daredevil Felix Baumgartner’s Outer Space Freefall Record

Google SVP Alan Eustace SVP broke the world altitude record by jumping from 135,890 feet

Alan Eustace, senior vice president of knowledge at Google, free-fell from 135,890 feet up in the stratosphere and broke the world altitude record in the process.

The executive made the jump in the New Mexico desert on Friday after he was lifted into space by a balloon filled with 35,000 cubic feet of helium to an altitude of over than 25 miles, before being cut free by a small explosive device.

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“It was amazing,” Eustace, 57, told The New York Times after his magnificent leap. “It was beautiful. You could see the darkness of space and you could see the layers of atmosphere, which I had never seen before.”

Eustace’s daring feat broke the world altitude record previously set Felix Baumgartner, who famously jumped from 128,100 feet on Oct. 14, 2012 in front of a livestream audience.

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While the Google exec’s jump was far lower profile, it was no less daring. Eustace also broke the world records for vertical speed reached with a peak velocity and total free-fall distance of 123,414 feet — lasting four minutes and 27 seconds, before he opened his main parachute.

The computer scientist made it back to the ground in just under 15 minutes, reaching speeds of up to 822 miles per hour during his free fall, landing in a field approximately 70 miles from the launch site.

“It was a wild, wild ride,” he went on to reveal. “I hugged on to the equipment module and tucked my legs and I held my heading.”

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Eustace told the Times that Google had been willing to help with the project, but he declined company support, worried that his jump would become a marketing event.

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